Review Schenker mySN D901C (Clevo D901C)

Craze for things big. Some like it big. That`s it, for with the D901C wimps are at the wrong place. Big and heavy, but for a notebook a virtually incredible performance. That performance is provided by a Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6850 CPU with 3.0GHz together with two NVIDIA Geforce 8700M GT graphic cards with 512 MB GDDR3 video memory each. O yes, three hard disks with 250 GB capacity each are also to be found in the casing. With this equipment the mySN D901C (Clevo D901C) represents the zenith of notebook technology at present.

Casing

"Big is beautiful"- to this set phrase you should agree at any rate if you have your eyes on the Schenker mySN D901C. The coloss weighs exactly 5.500gramsin thereviewed variation of equipment; with very impressive dimensions as the overall height of 6cm and a power pack which with 1.4kg weighs more than many a subnotebook.

A view on the datasheet of the mySN D901C makes clear how these dimensions ar brought about:

Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6850 CPU with 3.0 GHz or better expressed four times 3.0 GHz (four processor cores) two NVIDIA Geforce 8700nGT graphiccards, three! 250GB hard disks and one DVB-T tv card. At the latest when you take this hardware list into consideration, the sense of surprise about the gigantic casing turns into respect that it has been managed to cram such a lush equipment into a notebook casing at all.

The casing appears with respect to its visual outward appearance rathermodest and unobstrusive. You are looking in vain for colours or conspicuosly designed details at the Schenker mySN D901C. The notebook gets the only spot of paint by the blue LED lighting of the on/off buttons.

The surface components of the mySN D901C (Clevo D901C) laptop consist throughout of plastic. They show a shiny lacquered surface for the most part with moderate haptics. The notebook appears very robust. During the review no conspicuous deformations or torsions could be discovered while working with the device.

The 17 inch display shows a good solidity. Both hinges keep the screen comparatively stable in position, so that you need some strength to adjust the display. A slightly but negligible springing back of the screen could be observed.

It takes some time to get used to the fastener of the display. It is shaped as two hooks which have to be operated separately. In addition the design of both slides cannot convince entirely.

The offered ports of the mySN D901C are spread out on the lateral edges all around the entire casing of the notebook. Considering the extensive space of the casing available this fact can be regarded als slightly disadvantageous because the cables and plugs of plugged in devices also distribute around the casing. This is even more irritating as if the ports had been placed a little more bundled.

In this connection the Audio Ports are especially annoying. They have been placed in the middle of the front edge. The USB ports could have been better distributed too, or placed further at the back.

Input devices

In the generous casing fits a standard keyboard as well as an additional number block. Although all keys show a normal size the keyboard appears a little packed and squeezed into the strictly rectangular layout.

Nevertheless the keyboard leaves an entirely positive impression regarding its ease of operation. The individual keys are found easily and show a sufficient stroke distance with a noticeable pressure point. Partially a slightly bending of the keyboard could be observed during the review. But this fact can all in all be neglected. The big overallheight of thedevice turned out to be slightly more unconfortable. It gave rise to an unergonomic position of the hand while writing.

The generous touchpad shows a visual defined scroll area at the right margin as well as a one-piece key made of aluminium under the pad. This key is rather comfortable to press. All in all the touchpad worked without problems during the review. In practical working the nicely designed pad will be probably not much in use because the mobile usage of a DTR notebook is less important.

Apart from the blue lighted on/off button there are 3 shortcuts to call up the Media Player as well as the relevant webbrowser and mail client. Two additional keys to which you can allocate functions are supplied on the left side next to the keyboard. All other functions must be controlled by combination of the FN key and the relevant second allocation of a key.

The volume control (F3, F5, F6) and the standby function (F4) are placed a bit unfavourable. If you want to turn up fast or turn down fast respectively it can happen that the laptop passes into the standby mode. This is especially annoying when you are playing a computer game. In addition the mySN D901C (Clevo D901C) could not be recalled into work from the standby mode. It is true, the notebook returned audible into opperation again, but the screen remained black.

Touchpad

Display

Colour diagram

The display certainly must fit to the offered features of the notebook; at least concerning the technical data. The built in WUXGA panel with a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 pixels fulfills this task quite well. The desktop gives the impression to be gigantic. It supplies much space to put many divers programs, tools and links on the display. Thanks to the high resolution several windows can also be positioned simultaneously without any problem, offering maximum overall view.

Although the picture appears subjectively suffciently bright a certain faintness of the brightness became obvious during the review. We could record 156.2 cd/m² at the most in the central top area of the panel. In the lower display area the brightness drops to 100.8 cd/m² and causes an illumination only below average of just 64.5%.

Illumination of the display

The maximum possible contrast of the display is rather good,thanks to a very low black value of 0.3 cd/m². At 520:1 the mySN D901C ranks among the top of the notebooks reviewed up to now. One important point concerning a gaming device is certainly the reaction rate of the display.

Within the carried out review the laptop received average markings in respect to gaming.

For users who like to play computer games outside the outdoor ability of the panel is maybe interesting. Unfortunately the D901C could not receive positive marks regarding this issue. The brightness of the display as well as the reflecting panel surface make the outdoor use very problematic.

A very important issue would again be the stability of the viewing angle. The built in WUXGA Display shows a good stability in the horizontal area. In the vertical area which is, as experience has shown, a little more problematic the display panel shows a generous areafor working. Only if the level of view becomes downwards too flat the picture gets disturbing shadows.

Video der Einsichtbereiche des Displays

Performance

Windows Vista Performande Index

At first once again the technical data of the mySN D901C (Clevo D901C) which are relevant for the performance-limit of notebooks towards the top at present:

Whoever in view of this list thinks of a classic desktop computer is not much mistaken. Even compared with the stationary competitors the D901C is excellent; even as a hich perfomance PC it would cause a sensation.

It is not much surprising that the very same computer offers more than you can expect on the notebook sector. The mySN D901C produced one record mark after the other during the benchmark review and leaves all comperative competitors behind.

The QX6850 CPU with four processor cores with 3.0GHz each offers first rate application performance with all CPU stressed processes. The 2GB working memories maybe could be regarded as a "bottleneck". They look almost a bit conventional in comparison with the rest of the equipment. The answer which fields of application can be covered with this device is simple: all of them. Wether video editing, the creation of complete 3D sequences or complex arithmetical problems: the D901C offers the latest state of notebook technology and corresponding reserve capacities.

That certainly is also true for the 3D performance of the notebook which is above all interesting for gamers. With two GeForce 8700M GT graphic cards (SLI) the D901C offers even two of the currently most powerful mobile graphic chips in one device. More power is not possible at present. It`s true, there are always reports about the Geforce 8800 graphic card to come, but up to now this new graphic card is not in application. This fact earns the D901C the titel " most high-performance notebook".

True, in the practical game test a number of games could reach very good results, but whoever believes he could adjust with the keyes the details and resolution to a maximum at once goes wrong. Especially the new DirectX 10 Titels are very difficult even for the D901C and force it to surrender at choosen ".......perhaps in five years....." adjustment options. The classic exampel in this relation is the present roaring success strategy game "World in Conflict". For a reasonable decent game performance the adjustment must be reduced to 1280x800 at a high level of details (2:2 Skirmish).

Extremely good results delivered the configuration with slightly older games as Doom 3, FEAR, Command and Coquer 3 as well as Supreme Commander. All this games can be played at the highest respectivly medium resolution with maximum details.

The built in hard disks are connected to a large memory management (nRAID) inside the device which after all shows 700GB capacity. The performance of the disks is quite reasonable.

Though it must be taken heed to that in the case of a fault of the hard disk any data losses can occur. But in this case it would still be possible to re-establish the data of the still working hard disks.

Emissions

Volume

That capacity has its price to pay for becomes clear at the latest with the volume measurement. Short after the notebook is switched on, the first of all in all four! fans placed in the bottom of the device starts to work. This happens independent from the choosen energy profile. The lowest volume measured in idle running was with 39.7 dB already clearly audible and has to be described as disturbing when you are carrying out common jobs.

If you raise capacity and take it out of the D901C for a while the other fans will also start working and become loud. The maximum measurement was 50.8 dB, a considerable result.

So, if you are gaming we recommend either to raise the sound sufficiently to drown out the fans or to use headphones. So you can keep the atmosphere of th game with low sounds, too.

Frequently disturbing sources of noise as the DVD driver or the hard disks (D901C has even three of them) actually do not count, considering the volume of the fans. The DVD driver and the hard disks fall silent given the fans operating at full performance.

Noise Level

Idle

39.7 / 39.7 / 43.5 dB(A)

DVD

42.3 / dB(A)

Load

48.9 / 50.8 dB(A)

30 dBsilent

40 dBaudible

50 dBloud

min: , med: , max: (15 cm distance)

Temperature

Although the fans do their best, they do not succeed in the task to keep the casing from reaching noticeable high surface temperatures. Under load the temperature of almost the whole bottom of the device is around 50°C. The same is true for the top of the notebook. 44.9°C on the left area of the keyboard are very distinctly perceptible.

Despite this high warming the measurement must be qualified a little. The D901C will probably be put on a table anyway and it does not matter of the table surface becomes warm. Apart from that the temperature of the palm rests remain still normal even under full performance of the device.

Max. Load

41.9 °C

45.3 °C

39.8 °C

44.9 °C

42.6 °C

38.2 °C

35.9 °C

40.9 °C

35.8 °C

Maximum: 45.3 °CAverage: 40.6 °C

42.5 °C

49.9 °C

48.9 °C

36.7 °C

49 °C

45.2 °C

31.9 °C

49.2 °C

49.8 °C

Maximum: 49.9 °CAverage: 44.8 °C

Room Temperature 21.5 °C

Speakers

Speakers

Alltogether there are 4 speakers on the laptop. Two on the left respectively right side next to the keyboard and two on the frontedge of the notebook. The offered sound can be assessed as acceptable. Basses are represented reasonable acceptable.

But considering the relatively high price to pay for the device, we had expected a little bit more regarding richness and purity of sound. By way of comparison Toshiba in its Satego X200 offers a Harman Kadon Soundsystem, the sound of which clearly puts the D901C into the shade.

Battery Runtime

Strictly speaking one need not mention this column as the battery in the mySN D901C only represents deadwood. The more disappointing is the fact that the battery shows an essentiel base of the notebook. Therefore it cannot be removed from the casing. This fact is underlined by 3 screws which secure the battery.

The power input of the device shows finally why the mains adapter of the notebook regarding dimension and weight can almost be compared with a car battery: under load maximum 207.9W and still heavy 122W in idle running. In this case even the 66oo mAh (97Wh) storage battery is not of much help.

Verdict

Schenker mySN D901C

What does one expect from a desktop computer in notebook outfit? Perhaps mobility. Not really. For potential buyers of the D901C is only one thing of interest: the performance of the device. The Schenker mySN D901C has also relatively good prospects from that point of view: Quadcore CPU with 3.0GHz and two Geforce 8700GT graphic cards. Just these components cost even more than many a multimedia notebook. So, no wonder of the purchase price for the D901C equipped comparable to the review sample ranges around 3,800.-euro.

The casing with its big dimensions and a total weight of still 5.6kg show pretty well quality and unobstusive design. Also in respect to robustness and stability the casing is ok.

The built in keyboard is quite pleasant to use but a bit unergonomic due to the relative big overall height. This has a negative effect on long writing tasks.

The built in WUXGA Display with a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels fits well to the design of the D901C. It offers an extraordinary well overall view of the 17" display. The stability of the angle of view and the proportion of contrast turn out quite reasonable, only the brightness of the display can be assessed as only average.

With regard to performance the Schenker mySN D901C is more or less beyond criticism. A better performance is simply not possible at present. Whatever a task you have for the Schenker D901C: the notebook should fulfill them to your satisfaction. There is more performance only on the desktop sector at present.

One problem of this fitting with engines without taboos is on the one hand the high development of heat which warms the casing considerably, resulting in an especially loud background noise, due to the four built in fans which do everything to put the heat out of the device.

The battery in the notebook helps only to identify the Clevo D901C Barebones as a notebook. Apart from that the possible running times of30 minutes up to around an hour can hardly be called appropriate for practical use.

Hint: The Schenker mySN D901C is identical with notebooks under the following designations respectively brands: Nexoc Odin E804, Cyber-System Q17 Xtreme,Sager 9261. All these devices are the same Barebone of the company Clevo: Clevo D901C.

Thanks to the company Schenker, which kindly provided us with the reviewed notebook. Here you can also buy this device.